CAMILLE BOHANNON

During the American Civil War on this day in 1863, the first day’s
fighting at Gettysburg began. It was the bloodiest battle.

On this day in 1946, the United States exploded a 20-kiloton atomic
bomb near Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean.

During the Spanish-American War on this day in 1898, Theodore Roosevelt and his "Rough Riders" waged a victorious assault on
San Juan Hill in Cuba.

Theodore Roosevelt (center) with his “Rough Riders”.

Diana, Princess of Wales (Diana Frances Spencer)  
(July1, 1961 – August 31, 1997)  

Diana married Charles, the Prince of Wales and the heir to
the throne of 16 Commonwealth realms. She became an
international icon for her beauty and her work with charities.

Her death, which was reportedly caused by her driver’s
drunkenness, sparked widespread media attention and
conspiracy theories.

The sovereignty over Hong Kong was transferred from Great Britain
to China on this day in 1997. Britain had controlled Hong Kong as a colony for 156 years.

Actor Marlon Brando Jr. (April 3, 1924 – July 1, 2004)

Brando’s Academy Award-winning performances include Terry
Malloy in On the Waterfront (1954) and Don Vito Corleone in 
The Godfather (1972). Brando was an activist for many causes,
notably the civil rights movement and various Native American
groups.

Marlon Brando was ranked by the American Film Institute as the
fourth-greatest movie star among male movie stars whose screen
debuts occurred in or before 1950. He was one of six professional
actors, along with Charlie Chaplin, Ronald Reagan, Lucille Ball,
Frank Sinatra, and Marilyn Monroe, named in 1999 by Time
magazine as one of its 100 Most Important People of the Century.
Brando died of respiratory failure on July 1, 2004, at age 80.

Marlon Brando in a still photo from The Godfather.

SANDY KOZEL

On this day in 1945, the Russians took Berlin after 12 days of fierce house-to-house fighting. The Allies announced the surrender of
Nazi troops in Italy and parts of Austria.

Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (April 15, 1452 – May 2, 1919)

Confederate Gen. Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson was wounded by his
own men in the battle of Chancellorsville, VA. on this day in 1863 and
died 8 days later.

Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson
(January 21, 1824 – May 10, 1863)

On this day in 1994, Nelson Mandela claimed victory after South
Africa’s first democratic elections.

John Edgar Hoover (January 1, 1895 – May 2, 1972)

J. Edgar Hoover was the longtime director of the Federal
Bureau of Investigation (FBI). He became involved in law
enforcement as a special assistant to the attorney general,
overseeing the roundups and deportations of suspected
communists during the post-World War I Red Scare. He
was named bureau director in 1924, Hoover emphasized
modern investigational techniques and earned renown
for challenging criminal syndicates. He also became
known for secretly monitoring the activities of various
organizations that were considered subversive, including
the Black Panthers, the Socialist Workers Party and the
Ku Klux Klan. Despite his controversial methods, Hoover
remained in power until his death.

Crosby was born in Tacoma, Washington.

MIKE GRACIA

President Franklin D. Roosevelt died in Warm Spring, GA. on this
day in 1945. He died of a cerebral hemorrhage at the age of 63. Harry
S. Truman (below) became president.

Truman (left) being sworn as the 33rd president of the United
States.

Fort Sumter was shelled by Confederacy, starting America’s Civil
War on this day in 1861.

Soviet Yuri Alexeyevich Gagarin became first man to orbit the Earth
on this day in 1961.

On this day in 1981, the space shuttle Columbia blasted off from
Cape Canaveral, FL, on its first test flight. It orbits Earth 37 times
before landing.

Commander John W. Young, left, and Pilot Robert L. Crippen.

David Letterman retired as host of “The Late Show” on May 20,
2015.

David Michael Letterman is 71 years old today.

David Letterman became a late night TV host during the 1982 debut of
NBC’s Late Night with David Letterman, and later hosted The Late Show 
with David Letterman. In 2014, he announced that he would retire from
The Late Show in 2015. He once worked as a weatherman for AM radio
station WNTS and anchored on Indianapolis television station WLWI.

SANDY KOZEL

At Appomattox Court House, Virginia on this day in 1865, General Robert E.
Lee surrendered his Confederate Army to Union General Ulysses S. Grant
in the parlor of Wilmer McClean’s home. Grant allowed Rebel officers to keep
their side arms and permitted soldiers to keep their horses and mules. Though there were still Confederate armies in the field, the war was officially over. The
four years of fighting had killed 360,000 Union troops and 260,000 Confederate troops.

On this day in 2003, Saddam Hussein’s statue is toppled in Baghdad.

NASA announced the selection of America’s first seven astronauts
on this day in 1959.

On this day in 1939, Marian Anderson sang a landmark 1939
concert at the Lincoln Memorial, and blazed a trail for other
black classical singers.

More than 75,000 people come to the Lincoln Memorial on that
Easter Sunday to hear Anderson. She had been scheduled to
sing at Washington’s Constitution Hall, but the Daughters of
the American Revolution, a political organization that helped
manage the concert hall, denied her the right to perform
because of her race. Instead, and at the urging of Eleanor
Roosevelt who had resigned the DAR in protest of their
decision, Marian performed a free open air-concert at the
Lincoln Memorial.

Marian Anderson (February 27, 1897 – April 8, 1993)

Britain’s Prince Charles with his wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall acknowledges the crowd at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle in England following their wedding on this day in 2005.

The Official Wedding photograph of Prince Charles and Camilla
with Prince Harry, Prince William, Laura and Tom Parker Bowles.

ED DANAHUE

On this day in 1994, Civil war erupted in Rwanda between the
Patriotic Front rebel group and government soldiers. Hundreds
of thousands were slaughtered in the months that followed.

Aftermath of the Genocide.

Henry Ford (July 30, 1863 – April 7, 1947)

The first long-distance TV transmission was sent from Washington,
DC, to New York City on this day in 1927. The audience saw an image
of Commerce Secretary Herbert Hoover (below).

On this day in 1949, the musical "South Pacific" by Rodgers and Hammerstein debuted on Broadway.

Billie Holiday (Eleanora Fagan) (April 7, 1915 – July 17, 1959)

Holiday, was a jazz musician and singer-songwriter with a career
spanning nearly thirty years. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend
and music partner Lester Young, she had a huge influence on jazz
music and pop singing.